Vat containing a paddle wheel for the treatment of untanned leather



Oct. 30, 1962 VAT CONTAINING A PADDLE WHEEL FOR THE TREATMENT Filed July 25, 1960 L. PAKKALA OF UNTANNED LEATHER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIE.1

INVENTOR. Mum Fax/(n4 A TTORA/E Y 06L 1962 L. PAKKALA 3,060,715

VAT CONTAINING A PADDLE WHEEL FOR THE TREATMENT OF UNTANNED LEATHER Filed July 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2

INVENTOR. L A URI B4 100? LA flrrakA/EY United States Patent Ofifice 3,060,715 Patented Oct. 30, 1962 3,060,715 VAT CONTAINING A PADDLE WI EEL FOR THE TREATNIENT F UNTANNED LEATHER Lauri Pakkala, Rauma, Finland Filed July 25, 1960, Ser. No. 45,081 6 Claims. (Cl. 6929) The present invention concerns tanks or vats for paddle wheels or reeler baths, used in the leather industry, in which tanks or vats the untanned leathers immersed in the working liquid are kept in continuous motion by means of a mixing organ rotating slowly lengthwise.

The discharge of leather from a paddle vat of this type has up to now been carried out with a hook, or the like, suited for the purpose, with the aid of which the hides have been lifted out from the paddle vat one by one. By this procedure, however, discharging the paddle vat requires excessive time and in addition this is a laborious task.

The purpose of the present invention is to do away with the drawbacks in connection with the discharge of paddle vats by using a discharge opening provided in to the bottom part of the vat.

One example of the invention is illustrated further in the enclosed drawings in connection with the discharge device specified below.

In the drawings, in which FIG. 1 presents a paddle vat, partly broken away, seen from one end and FIG. 2 from the side, 3 designates the treatment paddle vat for untanned leather furnished with a trough'shaped bottom and supported by pillars 13. Lengthwise of the bath mounted on its gable ends, preferably a little closer to one of the long sides, an agitating wheel (not shown in the drawing) rotates slowly, e.g. 15-20 revolutions per minute, by means of which the untanned leathers immersed in the working liquid of the bath, eg Water, are kept in continuous motion, moving freely about.

According to the invention the bottom part of vat 3 is provided with a discharge opening extending substantially over the entire length of the vat, which opening can be closed liquid-tight by means of doors 1 and 2 opening outwardly and fixed with hinges 15 to the long sides of the bottom. The liquid tightness is obtained by rubber packings suitable for the purpose.

The doors, of which door 1 is open and door 2 is closed in FIG. 1 in the drawing, are made for hydraulic operation by means of lever devices.

For opening and closing the doors a turning shaft is fitted to bearing trestles 4 on both sides of the bottom of the vat. Shaft 5 is provided with a number of levers 7 which are connected to the doors by means of rods 9. Rods 9 which are threaded and adjustable are fastened at one end to the door ribs 14 and at the other end to the ends of levers 7, 10 designates adjustable abutment screws engageable with rods 9..

That end of each shaft 5, which is on the same side as the associated hydraulic working cylinder 6 supported by a shaft 11, is fitted with a lever 8 having one end joining to the end of the piston shaft 12 of its working cylinder 6.

When the working cylinders piston shaft 12 is extended the door opens by means of the lever arrangement 8, 7 fitted on the associated shaft 5 and rods 9, as is indicated in FIG. 1 with regard to door 1. Again, when piston shaft 12 is retracted the door closes.

When the paddle wheel treatment of the untanned leathers is completed and the paddle vat has to be discharged, a wagon suited for the purpose is pushed under the vat where the opening is located. On opening the doors the contents of the paddle vat drops down into the wagon in an instant. A great saving in work is thus accomplished as compared with the previous way of dis charging from above with the aid of hooks.

The invention is naturally not intended to be restricted only to what has been said above and to what is presented in the drawing, but the modes of construction of the invention suited for practical application may vary considerably from the foregoing. Thus e.g. the shape of the bottom openings, the way of installation, and the closing and opening mechanism may be different than which is presented above. The doors may be also made for example, for opening and closing by hand. The number of doors may also vary. Instead of a double door one single door may thus be used.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for the fluid treatment of untanned leather comprising an elongated vat having a troughshaped bottom, a plurality of legs secured to said vat for supporting same in an elevated position, said bottom being provided with a discharge opening extending substantially for its entire length, a door hinged longitudinally to said bottom to open outwardly and being arranged to sealingly cover said opening, a longitudinal operating shaft journalled to said bottom adjacent said door, fluid pressureoperated means to rotate said shaft, a lever member secured to said shaft, and a link rod connecting said lever member to said door, whereby said door is rotated responsive to the rotation of said shaft by said fluid pressureoperated means.

2. An apparatus for the fluid treatment of untanned leather comprising an elongated vat having a troughshaped bottom, a plurality of legs secured to said vat for supporting same in an elevated position, said bottom being provided with a discharge opening extending substantially for its entire length, a door hinged longitudinally to said bottom to open outwardly and being arranged to sealingly cover said opening, a longitudinal operating shaft journalled to said bottom adjacent said door, fluid pressureoperated means to rotate said shaft, a lever member secured to said shaft, a link rod connecting said lever member to said door, whereby said door is rotated responsive to the rotation of said shaft by said fluid pressure-operated means, and an adjustable abutment screw on the lever member and being engageable with the link rod to transmit sealing force to said door.

3. An apparatus for the fluid treatment of untanned leather comprising an elongated vat having a trough shaped bottom, a plurality of legs secured to said vat for supporting same in an elevated position, said bottom being provided with a discharge opening extending substantially for its entire length, a door hinged longitudinally to said bottom to open outwardly and being arranged to sealingly cover said opening, a longitudinal operating shaft journalled to said bottom laterally adjacent said door, fluid pressure-operated means to rotate said shaft, a plurality of spaced parallel lever members secured to said shaft, respective link rods pivotally connected respectively at their ends to the door and to the lever members, whereby said door is rotated responsive to the rotation of said shaft by said fluid pressure-operated means, and an adjustable abutment screw on at least one of the lever members, said abutment screw being spaced from the pivotal connection of said one of the lever members to its associated link rod and being engageable with said associated link rod to transmit sealing force to said door.

4. An apparatus for the fluid treatment of untanned leather comprising an elongated vat having a troughshaped bottom, a plurality of legs secured to said vat for supporting same in an elevated position, said bottom being provided with a discharge opening extending substantially for its entire length, a door hinged longitudinally to said bottom to open outwardly and being arranged to sealingly cover said opening, a plurality of 1on- G9 gitudinally aligned depending bearing brackets secured to the vat outwardly of said discharge opening, a longitudinal operating shaft journalled in saidbrackets, an arm on said shaft, a fluid pressure cylinder pivoted to said vat adjacent said arm, said cylinder being provided with a piston shaft, means connecting said piston shaft to said arm to rotate said operating shaft responsive to movement of said piston shaft relative to the cylinder, a plurality of spaced parallel lever members secured to said operating shaft, and respective link rods pivotally connected respectively at their ends to the door and to the lever members, whereby said door is rotated responsive to the rotation of said operating shaft.

5. The'structure of claim 4, and an adjustable abutment screw on at least one of the lever members spaced outwardly from the pivotal connection of said one of the lever members to its associated link rod and being engageable with said associated link rod to transmit sealing force to said door.

6. The structure of claim 5, and a second door hinged longitudinally to said bottom opposite said first-named door and being cooperable with said first-named door to sealingly cover said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 120,606 Wilson Nov. 7, 1871 164,106 Shaw June -8, 1875 1,041,119 Lockwood Oct. 15, 1912 1,291,936 Laing Jan. 21, 1919 1,781,217 Clover Nov. 11, 1930 2,040,417 White May 12, 1936 2,467,093 Page et al Apr. 12, 1949 2,785,562 Tigerman Mar. 19, 1957 

